Top Tips for Cooking Outside & What's In Store for 2024!
Happy New Year to all our beloved guests!
We had a wonderful festive season apart from the dreaded lurgy, with a quiet restorative Christmas and a Negroni filled New Year. Before you ask yes we did cook the turkey on the Kamado Joe… If this is the year you decide to elevate your cooking to the outdoors, or upgrade your garden kitchen set up, then we are here to help!
Luke’s Top Tips for Cooking Outside
The fuel you use to feed your fire is just as important as any other ingredient you choose and nothing beats charcoal. Always use lump wood charcoal - not briquettes. Charcoal briquettes are the chicken nuggets of the charcoal world - full of chemicals, hugely processed and low quality. Kamado Joe developed an exclusive blend of hardwoods for their Big Block Charcoal, so legendary for their density they're known as 'Axe Breakers'. It will burn longer, cleaner and better than anything else on the market.
Don’t be afraid of heat zones on your barbecue. A ‘cool spot’ on your barbecue, without any charcoal can be a lifesaver if you have a flare up from fatty meats rendering onto the coals but can also be used to cook larger cuts of meat indirectly.
Use a meat thermometer. These are readily available online for about a tenner and should be indispensable. Forget that weird trick of poking the fleshy bit of your hand and pop in a meat probe for a few seconds. 45 degrees is very rare, 70 degrees is well done. Add 5 degrees for every stage of ‘doneness’ so medium rare for example is about 55 degrees.
Get into the habit of ‘cooking outside’ rather than ‘barbecueing’. Everything tastes better cooked outside in a ceramic grill - not just slabs of meat, I’ll regularly do fish fingers, cook pasta or even Christmas lunch on a barbecue.
Go veggie (not completely). Anyone can make a beautiful steak taste delicious on a barbecue but a real joy is to realise how much better vegetables taste when cooked over fire. Asparagus grilled over hot coals is incredible but even better you can just throw unpeeled veg - beetroot, carrots and celeriac work really well, directly onto the charcoal - char it for an hour, turning occasionally and slice.
Team HG out and about at Hope Farm in Dorset
Private Events
We’ve been planning our diary for 2024 and we have space for a few more private events. We’d love to host your work for a private Fire School, or we can do a private party at High Grange or your house. Some of our recent feedback is below. Email Luke for a quote.
An enchanting oasis…
Thank you so much for a throughly enjoyable evening! Simply magical and the whole gang were absolutely delighted with both food and service! It really couldn’t have been a more perfect and I’m so pleased we decided to come to you for our Christmas party. First class food & service. 10/10
Fire Schools & Feasts
We begin Fire Schools again on 20th April and we are already almost sold out! We have a couple of spaces if you’d like to book in now.
Feasts recommence on 23rd February with what we are sure is going to be a beautiful Springlike evening. This year ALL our feasts are weather proof as we can sit you inside our Shippen barn in the case of bad weather. Book in soon before they sell out!
All our events can be booked here.
Wellbeing
We have sessions on going booze free (great if you’re struggling with dry January!), a Vision Board Workshop, a masterclass on time management and overwhelm, and a nutrition workshop. More information on everything is found here.
Nourish Retreat
On Friday 15th March, we invite 8 people to High Grange to experience a wonderful day of cooking, yoga, breathwork and relaxation. It will be our third session just before the cusp of Spring and we really love combining Luke and Sara’s passions. You can book here.
We hope to see you soon!
Sara and Luke xx